MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[patcummings]

They didn't even sell that many...official attendance was just 1,100.  That's all the tix they sold.  At least you can say you were there...a good chunk of IWU fans will probably claim that for years to come...

[Titan Q]

Loggerville, Augustana is nowhere near the 2004 and 2005 Stevens Point teams.  Augie is a very good team that won a very good conference, but I think most here would tell you that Illinois Wesleyan is the more talented team and that the Titans present more problems to the Loggers.

I saw the IWU/UPS game in Santa Barbara.  Illinois Wesleyan matches up very well vs Puget Sound for a number of reasons...

1) All-American point-guard Adam Dauksas - he might be the best ball-handler at this level.  Dauksas has great court vision and against a team that gambles all over the floor like the Loggers, he can really make them pay, finding open teamates.

2) IWU is big and strong, but also very quick and athletic.  IWU's big guys run the floor really well.  The Titans are an up-tempo team that constantly has to deal with opponents who try to slow them down, so when you allow them to play an up-tempo game it really plays into their strength.

3) IWU is a terrific shooting team - .505 from the field on the season and .409 from 3-pt range.  If you give the Titans wide open shots, they will knock a lot of them down.

4) The Titans are a great rebounding team.  IWU out-rebounds opponents by 7 per game on average.  6-7 Zach Freeman, 6-6 Cory Jones, 6-6 Keelan Amelianovich, 6-5 Chris Jones, 6-6 Steve Schweer, and 6-6 Andrew Freeman are really horses on the glass.

Here is the boxscore from the first IWU/UPS game...

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/mbb2006/miwu9.htm

IWU held a 45-35 rebounding advantage and shot .582, including 8-17 from 3.  The Titans only turned it over 17 times vs the nasty Logger defense.

Puget Sound is a very good basketball team and they are very well-coached.  They can beat Illinois Wesleyan, but they'll have to force more turnovers than the 17 vs IWU this year or the 14 vs Stevens Point the last 2 years.  And the Loggers will have to shoot it better than that 39% in the first game.

[Titan Q]

Here is the IWU/Lawrence boxscore...

http://www.lawrence.edu/athletics/mbasketball/stats0506/ncaa3.htm

* Zach Freeman: 21 pts, 12 reb (9-11 FG)
* Keelan Amelianovich: 14 pts, 6 assists/0 T.O.
* Matt Arnold: 10 pts (2-3 3-pt)

* Ryan Kroeger: 15 pts (5-11 3-pt)
* Kyle MacGillis: 13 pts, 6 assists
* Andy Hurley: 11 pts
* Chris Braier: 10 pts, 9 reb

FG: LU .510, IWU .446  (1st half - LU .727, IWU .481, 2nd - IWU .414, LU .333)

3-pt: LU 13-26 (.500), IWU 5-21 (.238)

Rebounds: IWU 36 LU 22

FT: IWU 16-20 (.800), LU 5-7 (.714)

[Ryan Coleman]

And here's the photo gallery: http://www.pictureprints.net/albums.php?gallery=670

Here is the IWU/Lawrence boxscore...

http://www.lawrence.edu/athletics/mbasketball/stats0506/ncaa3.htm

* Zach Freeman: 21 pts, 12 reb (9-11 FG)
* Keelan Amelianovich: 14 pts, 6 assists/0 T.O.
* Matt Arnold: 10 pts (2-3 3-pt)

* Ryan Kroeger: 15 pts (5-11 3-pt)
* Kyle MacGillis: 13 pts, 6 assists
* Andy Hurley: 11 pts
* Chris Braier: 10 pts, 9 reb

FG: LU .510, IWU .446  (1st half - LU .727, IWU .481, 2nd - IWU .414, LU .333)

3-pt: LU 13-26 (.500), IWU 5-21 (.238)

Rebounds: IWU 36 LU 22

FT: IWU 16-20 (.800), LU 5-7 (.714)

[iwumichigander]

Not very happy to pay $10 for a ticket and have to stand on the bleacher aisle, if they sold 1,100 seats there should have been a seat for all.  How did they ever pack the place with attendance figures of 1,380?  What a farce!  D3 should wake up to the day of small schools having very good teams that deserve to host but do not have the facilities. 

I am pretty sure Division III is made up of a lot of small schools and they will continue to be allowed to host.

I  believe the 1,380 were before the fire marshal stepped in.

1380 allegedly correct before the fire marshall stepped in.  How LU got 1380 into the Alex beats the heck out of me as it would be like packed sardines in a can.  However, according the the local news and fans; no admission has been charged the last two seasons by LU so the 1380 seems a little suspect.

[iwumichigander]

I think the game turned on Lawrence coming back to earth after shooting 72% in the first half.

You just had the feeling at the game that LU could not keep up with that strong shooting performance.  LU hit a 3 right at the end of the first have to take a 12 point lead into the locker room.  The real question was "is 12 points enough"?

IWU came back in the second half, chipped away at the LU lead and never lost its poise.  Zack Freeman really stepped up in the 2nd half; and, hey, his first half effort was pretty good too.  Titans got some good contributions from the bench, in particular, Matt Arnold.  Cory Jones and Zack Freeman got some huge rebounds in the second half.

[John Gleich]

I've only seen one game (IWU vs. Carroll) but Zach Freeman would have my early vote for any All-Tournament team for this NCAA tournament.  He's had some monster games with both points and rebounds.  It's rare for teams to have as many talented post players to augment good perimeter shooters on this level, and this is one of the reasons why I think IWU has to be the favorite of the remaining 8 teams to win it all.

Q, how is this UPS team different than the one you saw in December?

[Loggerville]

Puget Sound is a very good basketball team and they are very well-coached.  They can beat Illinois Wesleyan, but they'll have to force more turnovers than the 17 vs IWU this year or the 14 vs Stevens Point the last 2 years.  And the Loggers will have to shoot it better than that 39% in the first game.

Thanks Q for your insights....Your right about the shooting.  I think the challenge will be McVey and Curtiss need to have similar games to Dec. 29 (McVey 26 and 12; Curtiss 24 and 4 w/7-17 from 3) and the younger players need to step-up.  DeLong and Williams are playing at a much higher level now than earlier in the season, so I see those two as being key to any type of Logger success.  Good point about forcing TO, but they also need to take care of the ball themselves; 24 is not gonna work again tonight.  Should be a great game.

[proudofLU]

The game last night was physical.  I was suprised the refs let them play the way they did.  There was a point when LU was up 10 that fouls were 7 for IWU and 2 for LU.  IWU didn't have another foul the rest of the way, although we saw a few, that's for sure.   Manwhile LU had at least 8 fouls after that and I think more.  Seemed a little one sided, I know I'm biased.

The other thing IWU better not hope is that they start calling lane violations, they probably had a violation 20 times last night and only 2 or 3 were called.   If they whistle that, look out.  Puget's style might cull that, the way they run.

Good luck against Puget,  I think you will need it, thy are tougher than we all thought.

[Titan Q]

I've only seen one game (IWU vs. Carroll) but Zach Freeman would have my early vote for any All-Tournament team for this NCAA tournament.  He's had some monster games with both points and rebounds.  It's rare for teams to have as many talented post players to augment good perimeter shooters on this level, and this is one of the reasons why I think IWU has to be the favorite of the remaining 8 teams to win it all.

Q, how is this UPS team different than the one you saw in December?

Point, UPS is basically the same exact team I saw in December.  They shot the ball better vs Augie last night than they did vs IWU, but it's the same exact team.

[ecdubb420]

Been out of the country following the devastating loss by my BlueJays in the tournament, but here I come back to see two CCIW teams in the Sweet 16. 
Moving on..... I'm still wondering who didn't have Amelianovich and Dauksas on their first-team CCIW ballots. What a joke.
Dauksas runs a team better than any CCIW player, if not any player in the nation. As for Amelianovich, though I believe he should take over more games than he has during his career, best 6'5" shooter in the conference (if not nation)
Let's try and narrow this down and determine which idiot coaching in this conference didn't give these two All-Americans the unanimous nod they deserved.
Good to see NCC was sent home packing in the first round.  Never thought much of that team, but respect their accomplishments.
Also, has the CCIW ever thought of having more awards?  Perhaps, 6th man of the year, Newcomer of the Year ( or All-Newcomer team), Defensive player of the year (or All-Defensive team).  I think these men deserve some more hardware.

I never thought I'd say this, but go IWU (ouch that is tough to say).
Any idea when All-American teams are decided, and are tournament games taken into consideration?

[proudofLU]

Dauksas is good.  He is so quick that the refs don't see the 3 handchecks he applies each time the other team attempts to penetrate. 

That is a compliment to him and yes, a shot at the zebras.   

Good luck IWU, I hope you enjoy your visit in Appleton. 

[Greek Tragedy]

A funny story:

I'm using "Old Guy" in the nicest terms to go along with "Old School"...

After finding our seats in the upper right hand (looking at the bleachers) of the end bleachers in the last row and standing the whole game...

Old School: [kind of introducing myself to the IWU fan next to me]:  So, how long did you have to stand in line outside (referencing the fact after the first game we had to go to the end of the line for the next game)??
Old Guy:  Oh, I'm important, I didn't have to stand in line.

later on...

Old Guy:  So, are you cheering for IWU or Lawrence?
Old School:  IWU...[Swampgoon replies, "See, I even have my only Green shirt on!]

Old Guy:  How are you affiliated with IWU?
Old School:  Oh we're not really, we're Pointer fans [proudly showing off my 2004 championship sweatshirt].  I was on d3hoops.com and asked someone to buy me tickets and an IWU poster said she would...

Old School:  So, Mr. Important, how are you affiliated with IWU?
Old Guy:  Oh, I'm the AD.

Old School:  that explains why you're important! 

Very nice gentleman.  But, after Lawrence went up 24-9, he did grab my arm and threaten me to throw me over the railing! 

To confirm my story, we're pictured in the first couple of pictures or so of the picture gallery of the IWU/LU game! lol.  Nice pictures by the way...

[Mr. Ypsi]

OS,

Wow - you got to watch the game with one of the greatest coaches ever (Dennis Bridges, for those who don't recognize the IWU AD)!  Any special insights you'd care to share?

[Greek Tragedy]

He doesn't cheer at all...or maybe just cheers on the inside!  Seriously.  And he lets his Assistant AD do all the dirty work, in regards to fan behavior and all.  Very nice guy.  One time, he did admit he wanted to do a little golf clap when I suggested it! lol.  Back to Appleton.